Attending Francey and Ron’s Aperitivo are, back from left to right: Skip and Suzanne Butler, Vic Leo, Patti O’Connor, Tim Stevens, Kay Skripka, Bob Marchese, and Ron Swim; and front: Jane Barnhart and Francey Swim.
Kathleen Ripley Leo
Aperitivo is Italian for appetizers, cocktail hour, wine, and cheese. Four homes hosted about 10 members each on Oct. 1 and all had a friendly, relaxed time of it with the guests bringing a favorite appetizer and their choice of drink. People talked, joked, and got to know each other better. Francey and Ron Swim hosted theirs on their patio, with guests bringing different appetizers such as bruschetta, veggies, meatballs, slices of sausages, polenta rounds with herbed mushrooms, many olives, different cuts of salamis and mortadella, even shrimp. At the gathering at Bev Buck’s home, besides yummy food offerings, guests got into how to express themselves via Italian hand gestures with a lot of laughs thrown in. Nancy and Harry Cushing’s aperitivo was a first for them and they decided to offer an olive oil tasting along with guests’ lovely homemade goodies. Shelly and David Carnevale hosted theirs to great acclaim, too, and decided to offer a goodie bag takeaway guests could fill with cookies and candies. Each gathering exhibited some of what Italians are noted for: warm camaraderie and food, glorious food, in the expansive Italian way of hospitality. Mangia! Mangia!